* PSUtils is a collection of utilities for manipulating PostScript documents. Programs included are psnup, for placing out several logical pages on a single sheet of paper, psselect, for selecting pages from a document, pstops, for general imposition, psbook, for signature generation for booklet printing, and psresize, for adjusting page sizes. PSUtils is available for [http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/psutils.htm windows] and [http://www.knackered.org/angus/psutils/ Linux].

This is a linux script using psbook, called thus :

This is a linux script using psbook, called thus :

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script1a foobook

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<pre>script1a foobook</pre> where the input file is named foobook.ps. It will substitute "foobook" for every occurrence of "$1". The result will be two files named "foobooke.ps" and "foobooko.ps, set up for running the paper twice through my Ricoh laser printer. For another printer I might need to eliminate the "-r" parameter.

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where the input file is named foobook.ps. It will substitute "foobook" for every occurrence of "$1". The result will be two files named "foobooke.ps" and "foobooko.ps, set up for running the paper twice through my Ricoh laser printer. For another printer I might need to eliminate the "-r" parameter.

Other example for 32 pages on A3 sheets :
(Paths will have to be adjusted for your environment (and if you're on linux you will of course have to use a shell script instead, but the content wont differ much. Then the printer will just have to "print double sided")

Adobe Reader 8 and 9 will do booklet printing for you. For a A4 booklet, you just need to export an A5 document to PDF and then tell Adobe Reader to print it as a booklet. With Reader 9 you do not have to prepare a certain size as the Reader can scale (not sure if any precision issues). Depending on needs you may want the "Multiple Pages Per Sheet" or the "Booklet Printing" option in the Print Dialog "page scaling" option drop down.

PDFSaM is a very reliable Java-based tool that provides many options to manipulate PDF files. Especially recommended for pre-press work!

jPDF Tweak is a versatile Java-based tool with loads of options to edit PDF files.

PSUtils is a collection of utilities for manipulating PostScript documents. Programs included are psnup, for placing out several logical pages on a single sheet of paper, psselect, for selecting pages from a document, pstops, for general imposition, psbook, for signature generation for booklet printing, and psresize, for adjusting page sizes. PSUtils is available for windows and Linux.

This is a linux script using psbook, called thus :

script1a foobook

where the input file is named foobook.ps. It will substitute "foobook" for every occurrence of "$1". The result will be two files named "foobooke.ps" and "foobooko.ps, set up for running the paper twice through my Ricoh laser printer. For another printer I might need to eliminate the "-r" parameter.

Comment on these tools (20/06/2010) :
- Multivalent req'es outdated Java 1.4 to be installed. Trying to run with a current JRE is running into "java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: tool.pdf.Impose" error.
- PoDoFo (on-line) appears to be unaccessible
- PDFSaM is a well-done collection of PDF-tools, but lacks imposition features (in particular like n-up printing)
- jPDF Tweak is a bit tricky to use, but appears to be most functional (and, by now, stable). Did not find a settings export or batch function though.